The 2015 British Championship held in Coventry earlier in the month was decided in the final round. Four grandmasters held the lead, each paired against one of the four players half a point behind. Of the leaders, only joint defending champion GM Jonathan Hawkins managed to win his final game to finish first on 8½/11 in the 76 player Swiss tournament. 32 year old Hawkins is one of very few grandmasters who have progressed to the title from the level of expert as an adult player. His methods are explained in his excellent book Amateur to IM, published in 2012 before he achieved the grandmaster title.
Meanwhile the Otago Under 13 Championship took place at the Otago Chess Club start of the month and drew 23 players. The winner was Ethan Lau (12, Balmacewen Intermediate) with a perfect score of 7/7. Runners up were Zishen Fu (11, Balmacewen), Martin Brook (9, Maori Hill), Zhi Yuan Qi (11, John McGlashan) & Jared Lau (9, Maori Hill) all on 5 points.
Today's game is from the fifth round of the British Championship and features the winner Hawkins with White against GM Glenn Flear.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Bc5 5.Nb3
This rare method of playing the Scotch Game is known as the Potter Variation after William Potter, the 19th century English player. Although Black has no trouble equalising, it has recently come back into vogue, since it avoids early exchanges and offers a complex middlegame. 5... Bb6 6.Nc3 Nf6 7.Qe2 d6 8.Be3 Be6 9.O-O-O Qe7 10.g3 O-O 11.f3!
An improvement on the previously played 11.Bg2, when Black's attack on the queenside had proved faster in two GM games. The text bolsters e4 and clears the second rank in preparation for a kingside attack, leaving the bishop able to take part via c4. 11... Rfd8 12.Bg5 h6 13.h4!! Bxb3
The bishop on g5 remains immune to capture for most of the game, as opening the h-file is soon fatal – e.g. 13... hxg5? 14.hxg5 Nd7 15.f4! f6 16.g6! Nb4 17.Qh5 Kf8 18.Qh8+ Bg8 19.Bc4 d5 20.Rxd5! winning. The position becomes extremely tense, as variations on this theme had to be recalculated by both players after every move – an exercise for the reader. 14.axb3 Nd4
Black must try to get a move ahead in the variation to the previous note. E.g. 14... hxg5? 15.hxg5 Nh7 16.f4! Qe6 17.Qh5 Qg6 18.Qxg6 hxg6 19.Bc4+ Kh8? 20.Rxh7+! Kxh7 21.Rh1 mate. 15.Qg2 c6 16.f4! Ne6 17.Bc4 Bd4 18.Bxe6 Be3+ 19.Kb1 fxe6 20.Qh3 Kf7 21.e5! hxg5?
Black succumbs to the pressure. Best was to delay the capture one more move when White must find a long forced line: 21... dxe5 22.fxe5 hxg5 23.exf6 gxf6 24.g4! Bf4 25.hxg5 Rxd1+ 26.Rxd1 fxg5 27.Qh7+ Ke8 28.Qg8+ Qf8 29.Qxe6+ Qe7 30.Qg8+ Qf8 31.Re1+ Kd7 32.Qh7+ Kc8 33.Re7 with a winning attack. 22.exf6 Qxf6
Or 22... gxf6 23.hxg5 Rh8 24.Qxh8 Rxh8 25.Rxh8 and Black will lose his queen, e.g. 25... Kg6 26.Rdh1 fxg5 27.Rg8+ Kf5 28.Rxg5+ Kf6 29.Ne4+ Kf7 30.Rh7+ etc. 23.Ne4 Qg6 24.Nxg5+ Kg8 25.Rhe1 Resigns
Although after 25... Bc5 26.Rxe6 Qh5 27.g4 Qh8 28.h5 Re8 Black is only a pawn down, 29.h6! Rxe6 30.h7+ Kf8 31.Nxe6+ Ke7 32.Nxc5+ dxc5 33.Qe3+ soon mates.
Close contest in British Championship
Problem: White to play and mate in 4.
The 2015 British Championship held in Coventry earlier in the month was decided in the final round. Four grandmasters held the lead, each paired against one of the four players half a point behind. Of the leaders, only joint defending champion GM Jonathan Hawkins managed to win his final game to finish first on 8½/11 in the 76 player Swiss tournament. 32 year old Hawkins is one of very few grandmasters who have progressed to the title from the level of expert as an adult player. His methods are explained in his excellent book Amateur to IM, published in 2012 before he achieved the grandmaster title.
Meanwhile the Otago Under 13 Championship took place at the Otago Chess Club start of the month and drew 23 players. The winner was Ethan Lau (12, Balmacewen Intermediate) with a perfect score of 7/7. Runners up were Zishen Fu (11, Balmacewen), Martin Brook (9, Maori Hill), Zhi Yuan Qi (11, John McGlashan) & Jared Lau (9, Maori Hill) all on 5 points.
Today's game is from the fifth round of the British Championship and features the winner Hawkins with White against GM Glenn Flear.
1.e4 e5
2.Nf3 Nc6
3.d4 exd4
4.Nxd4 Bc5
5.Nb3
This rare method of playing the Scotch Game is known as the Potter Variation after William Potter, the 19th century English player. Although Black has no trouble equalising, it has recently come back into vogue, since it avoids early exchanges and offers a complex middlegame.
5... Bb6
6.Nc3 Nf6
7.Qe2 d6
8.Be3 Be6
9.O-O-O Qe7
10.g3 O-O
11.f3!
An improvement on the previously played 11.Bg2, when Black's attack on the queenside had proved faster in two GM games. The text bolsters e4 and clears the second rank in preparation for a kingside attack, leaving the bishop able to take part via c4.
11... Rfd8
12.Bg5 h6
13.h4!! Bxb3
The bishop on g5 remains immune to capture for most of the game, as opening the h-file is soon fatal – e.g. 13... hxg5? 14.hxg5 Nd7 15.f4! f6 16.g6! Nb4 17.Qh5 Kf8 18.Qh8+ Bg8 19.Bc4 d5 20.Rxd5! winning. The position becomes extremely tense, as variations on this theme had to be recalculated by both players after every move – an exercise for the reader.
14.axb3 Nd4
Black must try to get a move ahead in the variation to the previous note. E.g. 14... hxg5? 15.hxg5 Nh7 16.f4! Qe6 17.Qh5 Qg6 18.Qxg6 hxg6 19.Bc4+ Kh8? 20.Rxh7+! Kxh7 21.Rh1 mate.
15.Qg2 c6
16.f4! Ne6
17.Bc4 Bd4
18.Bxe6 Be3+
19.Kb1 fxe6
20.Qh3 Kf7
21.e5! hxg5?
Black succumbs to the pressure. Best was to delay the capture one more move when White must find a long forced line: 21... dxe5 22.fxe5 hxg5 23.exf6 gxf6 24.g4! Bf4 25.hxg5 Rxd1+ 26.Rxd1 fxg5 27.Qh7+ Ke8 28.Qg8+ Qf8 29.Qxe6+ Qe7 30.Qg8+ Qf8 31.Re1+ Kd7 32.Qh7+ Kc8 33.Re7 with a winning attack.
22.exf6 Qxf6
Or 22... gxf6 23.hxg5 Rh8 24.Qxh8 Rxh8 25.Rxh8 and Black will lose his queen, e.g. 25... Kg6 26.Rdh1 fxg5 27.Rg8+ Kf5 28.Rxg5+ Kf6 29.Ne4+ Kf7 30.Rh7+ etc.
23.Ne4 Qg6
24.Nxg5+ Kg8
25.Rhe1 Resigns
Although after 25... Bc5 26.Rxe6 Qh5 27.g4 Qh8 28.h5 Re8 Black is only a pawn down, 29.h6! Rxe6 30.h7+ Kf8 31.Nxe6+ Ke7 32.Nxc5+ dxc5 33.Qe3+ soon mates.
1-0
Solution: 1.Qxf6+! Rf7 (1... gxf6 2.Rhxg8+ and 3.R1g7#) 2.Rg7! Qxe4+ 3.Bxe4 Rxf6 (3... Ke8 4.Qxf7#) 4.Rhxg8#